Portrait Photography How To

Posing is the sort of thing that seems easy but can be tough and intimidating to novice photographers. Fortunately, there are experienced pros like Manny Ortiz who has posed many different subjects to create striking portraits. And in the below video, he tells you how you can do it yourself.

In typical Manny Ortiz-style, the video is titled "5 Posing Tips that Don't Suck!" and, believe us, his tips definitely do not disappoint. Working with his pretty wife Diana as his subject, Ortiz gives you a peek into his studio to show you how he photographs her using these simple but effective poses. These are ones you'll want to put in your back pocket for later.

Here are the five posing tips shown in the video below.

Tip 1: Hips & Shoulders

"Basic posing foundation: a lot of it is in the hips and in the shoulders," he says. "So just alternating your shoulder height and putting weight on your hips on each side is going to make a big difference."

Tip 2: Chin Down, Eyes Up

"If you want a more intense look out of your model. If you want them to show you at little attitude; all you have to do: chin down, eyes up, which creates intensity with the eyes."

Tip 3: Flow Posing

"Flow posing is when model do their own thing. When you're working with pro models it's easy because all you have to do is focus on composition while she cycles through her favorite poses. Amateur models need a little more direction."

Tip 4: Beautiful Headache

"The 'beautiful headache' is like your hand to 'oh my god' like my freaking head hurts but you got to make it look cute. And there's many different ways to do it."

Tip 5: L Pose

"When you've completely run out of ideas, the L pose is one of my favorites to use because it's so versatile and it's so easy to remember."

Check out the video below and then go hit up Ortiz' channel to see all his portrait photography advice including this video with "6 minutes of minutes of NO BS, straight to the point PORTRAIT Photography tips."